Our eagles have been patiently sitting on their eggs since mid-March.
Through wind and rain and snowstorms too!
I’ve been trekking down to the lake every four days or so to check on them. As long as I see one of them on the nest, I know all is well.
One day early last week, I’d checked to find everything as it should be. I’d begun to walk home, and was just out of sight of the nest when I heard the adult crying out over and over and over again. I raced back to find this . . .
A juvenile eagle in the area! And it seemed to be chasing the adult!
This was new-to-me behavior!
Usually, it’s the other way around, with the adult shooing off a juvenile.
The adult came back to sit on the nest, the two of them hollering and warning and fussing together, until that juvenile left the area.
Then everything was quiet again.
After a few moments, the adult that had flown in, lifted up into the air . . .
And it was then I saw it . . .
It had supper in its talons. THAT’S what the juvenile had been after.
The adult silently flew to a nearby island.
Landing in a tree, it ate its meal in peace and quiet.
Every now and then, when I’m down at the lake, I’ll hear the adult on the nest call out. I haven’t seen the juvenile since, but I have a feeling he’s hanging around still, looking for a handout! We’ll have to watch closely to see if it becomes a danger to the chicks after they are born.